Rouhani and Putin talked over a phone call about the recent ceasefire negotiated and agreed by Russia, Syria and the US to be implemented this weekend. Rouhani believed that Russian air strikes against terrorist strongholds forced terrorists and their supporters to come to negotiation table. “Among the necessary measures during the ceasefire are humanitarian aid to desperate refugees, strict border controls, release of innocent civilians from prisons and respecting rule of the legitimate government of Syria,” Rouhani told Putin. “Tehran and Moscow had been engaged in hectic talks to support Syrian people; the ceasefire agreement however, we believe suffer from some pitfalls; to address these pitfalls will guarantee the trust upon it and remove the concerns over its implementation; fighting terrorist groups should not be under the impact of any temporary ceasefire, though.”
President Putin of Russia, for his part, said that Iran-Russia cooperation on Syrian crisis hinged upon mutual trust, and we need to closely work together on Syria; “we agree that the agreement suffers some weaknesses, and emphasize upon border controls proposed by Mr. Rouhani,” Putin said over the phone call. “Terrorists should not be given time to reorganize and remobilize resources and arms during the ceasefire; fight with extremists of ISIL and Al-Nusra Front will strongly continue; humanitarian aid should respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Syrian government as well,” he added.
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